

Everyone understands that this is a prelude to a transition of power. Putin began the meeting by saying that he supported Lukashenko’s plan for constitutional reform. Since Belarus owes other creditors more than $1 billion, and Russia’s Gazprom more than $300 million, it’s doubtful whether any hard cash will actually reach Minsk. The two presidents talked for more than four hours, but the only concrete outcome had already been agreed before the talks, when Putin promised Lukashenko a loan of $1.5 billion. There may be fewer protests in the regions than a month ago, but 100,000–150,000 people regularly turn out for Sunday marches in the capital Minsk. Hundreds of people were once again arrested, violence was used against female protesters, and water cannons and stun grenades were deployed. Lukashenko wanted to arrive in Sochi as a leader who had already vanquished an uprising at home. Once again, the West was designated Belarus’s archenemy, and the Belarusian opposition was labeled Russophobic and accused of working for the United States, even though just last month, that same opposition was supposedly being managed by Russian puppet masters. Having burned all of his bridges with the West, ending his long-running balancing act between it and Russia, Lukashenko spent several weeks preparing for his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi on September 14. Lukashenko’s international and domestic legitimacy have been too fiercely subverted for the comfort of any of his remaining foreign partners. But the Belarusian political crisis has turned out to be far more serious than even the boldest forecasts had anticipated.

#Apower free
This turn of events should have, according to all the forecasts, pushed Minsk into the Kremlin’s arms and given Moscow free rein in Belarus, and at first, this seemed to be more or less what had happened. This culminated in the brutal breakup of protests immediately after the vote, setting back Lukashenko’s budding relationship with the West many years. As Belarusian society grew sharply politicized over the summer, President Alexander Lukashenko ramped up the repression. A situation for a springing power of attorney could be when the principal specifies in the power of attorney document that the agent would not have power until the principal was 75 years old, but once the principal reached that age, the agent would have the specified powers, regardless of the principal’s capacity.Last month’s presidential election in Belarus was expected to end with one clear victor: Russia.Many seriously ill people choose a durable power of attorney because they want their agent to continue to make their decisions after they can no longer communicate their wishes, and, because of their illness, want the power of attorney to go immediately into effect.Keep in mind that all states have different laws regarding power of attorney, and, in some states, a springing durable power of attorney cannot be legally used. Make sure the form stipulates whether the powers are "springing durable," which means they take effect at a later date and will be not be revoked if the principal becomes incapacitated.Stipulate whether the agreement is “durable.” If the principal wants the agent to have control over certain legal matters (financial or medical) immediately, and wants that power to continue to be valid after the principal has become incapacitated, choose a durable power of attorney.
